BIOACTIVITY OF SECONDARY METABOLITES OF VARIOUS PLANTS: A REVIEW

Plants are an important source for the discovery of new products of medicinal value for drug development and plants secondary metabolites are unique sources for pharmaceuticals food additives, flavors, and other industrial values. The commercial importance of these secondary metabolites has resulted in a great interest in its production and in exploring possibilities of enhancing its production using tissue culture technology in recent years. A good number of abstracts and research articles published, so far, for evaluating antioxidant, the anti-microbial and anti-diabetic activity of different secondary metabolites which have been extracted from various plants. In this article, we reviewed bioactivity of flavonoids, alkaloids, and phytosterols of total 18 different plants. Out of which, total of 10 plants were found to show antioxidant potential, 9 plants were found to show anti-microbial potential, and 9 plants were found to show the anti-diabetic potential of secondary metabolites. Root, stem, leaves, fruits, and flowers of various plants were found to possess secondary metabolites to show bioactivity. So this article will be a comprehensive ready reference for those who are interested in antioxidant, anti-diabetic and antimicrobial of secondary metabolites.